


reunion

by lovehansen



Category: Fifth Harmony (Band)
Genre: Ally has a kid, Dinally, F/F, Laurmani friendship, OT4, Post Hiatus, Tear in your ot4 heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:53:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26595550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovehansen/pseuds/lovehansen
Summary: ally wanted to get the gang together again.or;in which ot4 gets together on their anniversary and it leads to keeping in touch
Relationships: Ally Brooke/Dinah Jane
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> from allysondelivers on wp :)

the four girls had realized that at the six year mark, they were ready for more. they were ready to go their separate ways and to explore more, bigger, better opportunities as solo artists.

now, two years into their solo careers, they had all gotten in touch and decided they'd get together in the late week of july.

ally had chosen to stay in los angeles, committed to pursuing the different aspects of her career. dinah also commuted between los angeles and orange county. both normani and lauren moved back to their hometowns.

the four girls had decided to meet in los angeles, ally offering her home as place of meeting.

so there ally sat, on her living room floor with her six month old sitting up, grabbing at the toys ally put in his reach. the baby's grip was mighty strong as he grabbed onto a small stuffed lion, waving it around with a smile. ally chuckled and fiddled with squishy baby book as she waited for the girls to arrive.

ally got up and walked into the open kitchen, reaching for the baby puffs she knew her son loved (her too but she'd never admit it out loud). ally's eyes widened as she heard the doorbell ring, her baby squealing at the sudden noise. ally grabbed her son, settling him on her hip as she made her way to the front door.

ally rested her hand on the door knob and took in a breath, exhaling as she opened the door. ally looked up at smiled slightly, the all too familiar brown eyes staring down upon her.

"ally," she breathed out, a large grin spreading across her face.

"dinah jane," ally smiled slightly, "please come in," ally gestured into the house, stepping aside. dinah nodded and walked in, ally closing the door. the baby was looking at dinah curiously, probably confused as to who this new person was in front of him. when ally looked up at dinah again, dinah opened her arms widely. ally walked into the embrace, dinah's arms easily wrapping around both ally and the baby.

"oh my gosh," dinah said, resting her hands on ally's shoulders, pulling her slightly away to get a better look at her and the baby, "is this..." dinah pointed at the baby in ally's arm. ally nodded. dinah reached and touched the child's arm, smiling when the baby didn't pull away, "hi my love," dinah spoke softly.

"do you want to hold him?" ally suggested.

"please?" dinah lit up. ally's lip turned up as she nodded, leaning towards dinah. her son naturally reached for dinah, the transfer from ally to dinah seemingly easy. the baby settled in dinah's arms, smiling and squealing at the new person, reaching and grabbing at everything. dinah chuckled as ally led her into the living room.

"here, you can feed him," ally handed the bottle of baby puffs to dinah. dinah nodded and took some out, showing the baby.

"what's his full name again?" dinah asked, looking up at ally after giving the baby more puffs out of her hand.

"azariah james hernandez," ally smiled slightly, pushing the baby's hair back. he was blessed with a full head of hair at birth, light brown wisps to accent his green eyes.

"i'm literally in love," dinah chuckled, popping a baby puff into her own mouth. ally rolled her eyes and giggled.

"do you know when the others get here?" ally asked.

"i think mani's flight landed a while ago, and lauren should be coming in about thirty minutes," dinah shrugged. ally nodded.

"do you want anything to drink? or eat other than baby puffs?" ally snickered.

dinah smiled sheepishly as she ate another, "sure."

"water, juice, wine?" ally looked at dinah from the kitchen, who opted to staying in the living room with the baby.

"water is fine," dinah chuckled. ally smiled and nodded, grabbing two glasses and filling them with ice and water.

the doorbell rang again. ally looked at dinah, who's eyes lit up. ally and dinah made their way to the front door, azariah in ally's hands.

ally opened the door with an exhale, dinah and normani immediately began jumping around, screaming and laughing in excitement. ally chuckled at their antics, azariah kicking his legs and clapping, screaming along with normani and dinah.

"oh my god!" normani finally exclaimed.

"let's go inside before paparazzi pull up," dinah smiled, grabbing normani's hand and pulling her inside.

"ally!" normani turned to ally with a large smile.

"hey mani," ally grinned.

"here give," dinah grabbed azariah from ally, allowing normani to practically tackle ally.

"missed you," normani said softly, her and ally tangled together for a few seconds before normani helped ally off of the floor.

"missed you too," ally giggled.

"now who is this big guy?" normani turned to the baby in dinah's arms, tickling his stomach, making him giggle and reach to put his fingers in his mouth. "oh don't do that, those are dirty," normani pouted, pulling his fingers out of his mouth.

"say hi, azariah," ally said, leaning her head onto dinah's free shoulder. azariah squealed, reaching for normani. normani took azariah and began bouncing around, talking to him. ally smiled.

"did you text camila?" dinah asked softly.

"and say what?" ally tilted her head.

dinah shrugged, "i don't know." ally nodded and rubbed dinah's arm, knowing how dinah felt about camila.

"did you?" ally questioned.

"thought about it," dinah shook her head.

"you know it's okay t-"

"i know, als," dinah interrupted, nodding.

"okay," ally kissed dinah's shoulder and chuckled when azariah began crying, taking him from normani.

"is baby hungry?" normani asked.

"probably, this is around the time i'd feed him," ally shrugged, shuffling over to the couch.

"do you need anything?" dinah looked over at ally. ally shook her head and grabbed a blanket, resting a still crying azariah in her lap.

"you guys can help yourselves to the kitchen," ally smiled.

"thanks allycat," normani nodded. the doorbell rang for the last time.

dinah almost stumbled out of the chair she was in and pushed normani towards the door, leaving ally as she lightly laughed and patted azariah's diapered bottom. ally smiled as she heard the familiar squeals.

lauren came into the living room and cooed, seeing ally with the blanket over her shoulder.

"motherhood, a beautiful thing," lauren said, sitting next to ally and side hugging the girl, "for a beautiful girl. hey als," lauren smiled.

"hey lolo, missed you," ally rested her head on lauren's shoulder.

"missed you too," lauren said, rubbing ally's cheek.

"i can't believe we're all together again," normani announced, sitting adjacent to lauren and ally as dinah brought in the four glasses of water.

"it's crazy, to say the least," dinah nodded in agreement.

"so how has everyone been?!" normani asked, diving into conversation.

the four girls had talked for what seemed like forever, hours upon hours. they'd talked about what they'd accomplished, what they were currently working on, and what was in the future for them. they supported and praised everyone, so proud of how far they've come and what they've gotten through.


	2. Chapter 2

"ally and dinah have been together an awful lot, huh?" lauren said, putting the pan in the stove before grabbing the phone from it's propped up position.

"yeah i've seen that, unfair they live so close to each other," normani huffed.

lauren chuckled, "you know you could always move to la."

"i know, but i like it here in houston, my family is here," normani protested.

"that's how i feel about florida," lauren said with a nod.

"we should all get together again though," normani suggested.

"that sounds like a good idea, i miss azariah," lauren frowned.

"me too, gosh he is the cutest thing ever," normani gushed, "let's add her to the call," normani said, making quick work of ringing the latina. ally picked up after a few rings.

"hey guys, what's up?" ally popped up, seemingly on her laptop.

"hey als, just wanted to call and check in," normani shrugged.

azariah came running down the hall in just his superman underwear, squealing as heavy footsteps followed.

"aj get back here!" dinah exclaimed, reaching out for the toddler. ally's eyes widened as she looked at her two friends on the phone.

"dinah jane, why am i not surprised?" normani smirked.

ally chuckled, "she's here, uninvited might i add," ally looked up at dinah, who was holding azariah above her head and blowing raspberries on his stomach; the sight made her heart swell.

"uh, who's that?" dinah asked, turning to ally.

"wow, offended you don't recognize your best friends' voices," lauren clicked her tongue. dinah sat down next to ally and put azariah in her lap, looking at the screen.

"oh well hey guys," dinah waved, "wait why didn't i get added to the call?" she frowned, allowing the boy to climb off of her to play with his trucks on the ground.

"we cared more about the kid than you," normani shrugged, everyone sharing a laugh as dinah rolled her eyes.

"rude asses," she said.

"anyways, mani and i were talking about getting together again, maybe for a holiday getaway?" lauren shrugged.

"that sounds like a great idea, actually. dinah and i were talking about," ally began, but trailed off at the end as she puffed her cheeks. dinah facepalmed.

"talking about what?" lauren raised an eyebrow.

"nothing, nothing, we were talking about nothing," ally waved her off, "anyways, holiday getaway is a yes from me. i'm sure my parents will understand."

"right," normani nodded slowly, "and where would this getaway be?"

"are we wanting a white christmas?" dinah asked.

"i'm not opposed, haven't had one of those in a long time," lauren shrugged, all the girls agreeing, seeing as all four of them lived where snow did not fall.

"settled, should we head up north? oregon, washington?" ally suggested, already pulling up various websites.

"i believe my family owns a cabin in oregon, i can see if we can get it for the week of christmas?" lauren said.

"that'd be our best bet, but if we can't get it then that's okay," ally said.

"okay, though i'm sure we can use it. no one else really does," lauren shrugged.

"wait now i'm excited for christmas," normani frowned.

an idea popped into ally's head, "after christmas, why don't we all come down to la and ring in the new years together?"

lauren's eyes widened, "that sounds like a lot of fun!"

"it's a definite yes from me," normani smiled.

"yay!" ally clapped, looking briefly at dinah.

"now i'm excited for christmas," normani frowned.

"ch'is'mas?" azariah looked up from his playing.

"yeah cub, christmas," ally nodded.

"yay!" he squealed, clapping his cars together, making ally and dinah laugh.

"i don't even need to see him to know he's being cute," lauren mentioned.

"i mean you aren't wrong," dinah nodded.

"okay, i have to get going, i've got an afternoon session," normani said, briefly looking at the time.

"and i've got dinner," lauren said, looking at her oven.

"well we've got nothing but we'll let you go," dinah shrugged.

normani and lauren laughed and bid their goodbyes to the pair.

ally closed her laptop and looked at dinah, "white christmas?"

"white christmas," dinah confirmed, smiling.

ally giggled and put her laptop aside, "c'mon aj, let's go nap, mama's tired."

"eena come too?" azariah asked, leaning into dinah's legs.

"only if she wants," ally looked at dinah.

"you know i'm always down to sleep, what kind of question is that," dinah snorted, picking the toddler up, "nap time!" dinah ran into the hallway and towards ally's room. ally rolled her eyes and followed behind.

== + ==

"ally," dinah whined, pushing the girl away.

"dinah get your ass up," ally grumbled.

"why?" dinah complained further.

"we are leaving for oregon, come on," ally said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes with her fists.

"what time is it even?" dinah mumbled.

"it's two, our flight leaves at five, we have to get to the airport," ally continued.

"fucking hell," dinah groaned, stretching in the bed.

"get up and pack your last minute things, i'm going to get azariah," ally said, walking out of her room, leaving dinah in bed.

finally, after lots of complaining and a little bit of crying, the trio was on the road and headed towards lax.

they got through security with ease and made their way to their gate. ally was a little nervous, to say the least. it'd be azariah's first time on a plane and she was unsure of how he was going to react.

"you look nervous. you feel nervous. what's going on?" dinah asked, looking at her counterpart with furrowed eyebrows as she continued to rub circles on azariah's back to keep him asleep.

"it's his first time on a plane and i'm just worried about his reaction is all," ally shrugged, glancing at her son in dinah's arms.

"he will be fine, if anything he's way too sleepy to even want to be awake. i mean i don't blame him," dinah mumbled.

ally rolled her eyes, "hopefully," ally pulled his hair to the side. as he got a little older, azariah's hair had filled in almost immediately, his light wisps growing thick, curly, and long. his curls were tamed, for the most part. azariah looked nothing like ally physically, but was her in every other attribute.

they boarded comfortably, able to quickly locate their seats and put things away before settling in the aisle of three seats, dinah and ally on either side of azariah. he was still sleeping, now laid out with his head in dinah's lap and his socked feet in ally's lap.

"he'll be okay," dinah said softly, watching ally look at her son. ally looked up and smiled at dinah.

to ally's content, the plane ride was smooth and well. dinah fell asleep almost immediately, but ally stayed up in case azariah woke. he was awake for about five minutes, alerting ally he needed to use the bathroom. ally helped him with that and once they were seated, he laid back down and fell right back to sleep.

after collecting their bags from baggage claim, ally put a puffy coat on azariah and did the same for herself, looking to dinah as the woman put an extra hoodie on. they walked outside when lauren texted she was curbside. lauren hugged them in greeting and helped them get their things in the trunk before pulling off with everyone inside.

"welcome to oregon," lauren smiled. lauren had already been there for about two days, getting the cabin ready for her guests.

"thanks for picking us up laur," dinah said, pulling the hoodie over her head and handing it backwards to ally, who stuck her arms in for the extra warmth.

"not a problem, i wasn't doing much anyway. normani comes in the afternoon," lauren added.

"awesome, i can't wait," ally smiled, looking at azariah in the car seat next to her.

"how was your guys' flight?" lauren asked.

"pretty good, actually, no problems," dinah said.

"that's good to hear, how was little man?" lauren asked, taking a brief glance in the mirror at the little boy in his car seat.

"good!" azariah exclaimed when he realized he was being talked to, "planes fun."

"planes are fun," lauren smiled.

the rest of the car ride was filled with singing of traditional christmas songs and the occasional landmark pointed out by lauren. she did know a few things about oregon, despite hardly ever being there.

lauren drove through the woods and down a dirt path, leading to a decently sized cabin on the frozen lake.

"whoa lo it's so pretty," ally said as the van was turned off.

"thanks," lauren said, getting out of the van. the trio made quick work of getting the bags into the cabin, azariah sitting patiently in the living room on the couch.

after trudging back and forth, the bags were finally inside and the door closed, keeping the cold outside. everyone began to take off their layers.

"oh also, there are only three bedrooms, but i figured that wouldn't be a problem," lauren said from the kitchen with a slight smirk.

"right, you and mani are sharing," dinah fired back.

"no share wit' eena?" azariah looked at ally with a frown.

ally chuckled, "we are sharing with eena, she's just playing around with aunty laur."

"i'll start getting these to the room," dinah said.

"you guys have the master bed at the very end on the right, considering the amount of people in your room. use the bed wisely," lauren said.

"s'eepy time!" azariah squealed, making the adults laugh.

"yeah baby, sleepy time," ally smiled, "c'mon, let's help eena get the bags to the room." azariah nodded and wheeled his small luggage to the hallway, dinah and ally following with their bags behind them.

"it's really nice here," dinah said, stepping into the room.

considering it was the only room on the right side of the cabin and the master bed, it was a considerable size. the right wall had a large window with drapes, showing off the beautiful lake. the cal-king sized bed sat on the adjacent wall, two smaller windows on either side with nightstands underneath. across from the bed was the doorway to the bathroom, wooden sliding doors revealing a two vanity sink, the shower to the right and toilet to the left. there were drawers to the left of the door and a closet just before the doorway to the bathroom.

azariah climbed onto the bed and jumped in the middle, dinah quickly joining and wrapping herself around azariah, making him squeal and laugh. ally chuckled and rolled her eyes, something she normally did when it came to dinah and azariah's antics. and though she rolled her eyes, she secretly adored their relationship, grateful they had a good one.

the girls were finally unpacked and after a few hours of laying around, it was finally time to get normani from the airport. lauren enlisted dinah, giving the polynesian no choice but to join her for the long ride. dinah groaned and kissed ally's cheek as she left, ruffling azariah's curls.

"we'll be back," dinah said, looking at the ally one last time.

ally smiled, "i know." dinah winked and closed the door behind her. "okay zaza," ally turned to her son, "let's get snacks and find a movie, how's that sound?"

"good," azariah nodded, following ally into the kitchen.

"alright, i got a question," lauren said, adjusting her grip on the steering wheel as they got to the main road.

"i might have an answer," dinah said.

"so, what's been going on between you and ally?" lauren asked, stealing a glance at dinah for her reaction.

dinah smiled and looked down at her fingers, "nothing lo, we're just friends."

= + =

ally and azariah were about halfway into their movie when the door unlocked, lauren walking in first with dinah and normani pulling bags behind her. ally sat up, leaning her son, who'd fallen back asleep, into the pillows next to him.

"hi mani," ally got up and made her way over to the dark skinned girl.

"allycat i missed you," normani embraced the girl.

"miss you too," ally mumbled tiredly.

"dinah and i are cooking tonight," lauren announced.

"we are?" dinah looked into the kitchen, where lauren was already pulling various things from the cupboards.

"yup," lauren said, "now get in here and help me." dinah looked at normani and ally with pleading eyes, which both girls chuckled and shook their heads, ally waving her off into the kitchen. dinah groaned and stalked into the kitchen with slumped shoulders.

"okay, how've you been?" normani asked, pulling ally over to the dining table behind the couch where azariah lay.

"i'm good, working on a few projects," ally shrugged, "what about you?"

"same here, how's baby?" normani peeked over the couch to look at the sleeping boy splayed out on the couch, his mouth a little open.

"oh gosh," ally chuckled, "rascal, as any two year old boy would be. and having dinah around is no help, all they do is run around and play."

"hey! i heard that!"

ally rolled her eyes, "good!"

"rude."

"speaking of," normani tapped the table and lowered her voice, "what's going on between you two?"

"nothing mani, we're just friends," ally shook her head, biting her cheek to hold back a smile.

"mhm, okay, sure," normani nodded.

"we are," ally whined, dragging the last syllable out.

"i said 'okay,'" normani said.

"doubtfully," ally grimaced.

normani hummed, "let's go check on the food." ally nodded and the pair got up from the table and walked into the kitchen. "is the dinah jane actually cooking?" normani looked baffled at the site of dinah working on the main dish as lauren put what looked like bread in the oven.

"hey, i can throw down," dinah waved the spatula at normani as the two sat down on the island.

"once i taste the food and i'm not poisoned, i'll agree," normani teased with a snicker.

"i wouldn't poison you accidentally," dinah rolled her eyes.

lauren snorted, "that sounds like a dinah thing to say."

"because i said it?" dinah looked at the girl with furrowed eyebrows.

"you know what, never mind, hurry up," lauren waved her off.

"m-mama?"

"duty calls," ally said, sliding out of her seat and walking into the living room.

"i know you did not just call king a duty," dinah called after her. ally chuckled and rolled her eyes, sitting next to azariah.

"hi baby," ally said softly, rubbing his stomach.

"hi mama," he smiled, stretching.

"oh big stretch," ally said, slightly tickling him to make him giggle.

"mama s'op!" azariah exclaimed.

"you hungry?" ally asked. azariah nodded, "okay well eena and aunty lo are cooking, and aunty bear is here."

"aun'y bear!" azariah got up and ran into the kitchen, ally following.

"oh hey munch!" normani pulled azariah off the floor and into her lap, earning a hug, "look at your curls, baby boy!" normani gushed, running her hand through his hair. azariah giggled, laying his head on normani's shoulder.

lauren pulled the pan out of the oven and shut the ringing timer off, putting it on a clay tile. she transferred what looked like fresh garlic bread onto a plate and clapped.

"dinner is served!"

"awesome," normani smiled, helping azariah down before getting up herself.

dinah had made the pesto sauce to go with the sphagetti noodles while lauren made garlic bread and tossed a salad.

"this looks really good guys," normani said, making a plate for herself.

"yeah i agree, this is like fifth harmony house on crack," ally said, following normani.

"we ate nothing in that house but cereal, bananas, and the occasional sandwiches," dinah snorted.

"we never were home that's why," lauren stated.

"mama i wan' dat," azariah pointed at the salad.

"you want salad baby?" ally asked. azariah nodded. normally he wasn't one for salad, but ally nodded and put a few pieces on his plate anyway.

"healthy boy," dinah rubbed his head.

"eena," azariah hugged dinah's leg.

"hey king," dinah chuckled, "look mama's got your plate, go follow and sit down."

"otay," azariah unwrapped himself from dinah's leg and skipped out of the kitchen. normani sighed and shook her head, sharing a look with lauren.

"what?" dinah looked at the two before walking out.

"nothing," lauren smiled. dinah rolled her eyes and went to the dining room table with her plate in her hands.

= + =

"oops," dinah walked into the master bedroom only to turn and walk right back out.

"no dj you're good," ally called.

"you sure?" dinah rubbed the back of her neck, still facing the other way.

"yeah," ally rolled her eyes, "no azariah james!"

"whoa, hey there," dinah picked up the wet, naked toddler trying to run out of the room.

"eena," azariah whined.

"c'mon cub, let's put some clothes on," dinah turned around and used her foot to close the bedroom door.

"they really need to hurry up and recognize they have feelings for each other," lauren said, sitting with normani on the couch while watching another movie.

"i agree, you'd think ally'd know by now, but they're both so oblivious," normani chuckled.

dinah gulped, seeing ally in only a towel and fresh from the shower put a few thoughts in her head she had to quickly dismiss.

dinah held azariah while ally dried him off with another towel. "you can get dressed, i'll take care of this guy," dinah said, tickling his sides. ally nodded and walked over to her suitcase on the floor, bending over. dinah's eyes widened as the towel raised a little, immediately adverting her eyes as she pulled azariah over to his suitcase.

"alright dude, what do you want to wear?" dinah asked, sitting on the floor with her back towards ally. dinah pulled out an underwear and helped the boy into it as he yawned.

"i p'ease wear spider-man?" azariah asked softly, his hands on both of dinah's shoulders.

"sure king, thanks for asking nicely," dinah smiled, kissing his cheek before going to find the requested pajamas. ally smiled and bit the inside of her cheek, pulling a hoodie she recognized as dinah's over her head. "into the pants we go," dinah said, scrunching up the leg and putting it over his foot and ankle, doing the same with the other. she pulled the waistband up and helped him slip into the long sleeve pajama shirt. "alright, all set for bed, want to go tell aunty lo and aunty bear goodnight?" azariah nodded, taking dinah's finger into his hand and walking out with dinah. dinah turned around and grinned at ally before walking out. ally shook her head, a small blush appearing on her cheeks.

"g'night aun'y lo," azariah hugged lauren, "g'night aun'y bear," azariah hugged normani.

"goodnight riah, we'll see you in the morning," normani smiled as dinah took him back to their room, "he's the literal spawn of an angel."

"well, his mom is ally," lauren shrugged.

"you know what that's true."

dinah walked back into the room to find ally already sitting against the headboard, her legs under the covers while she was on her phone. dinah put azariah on the bed and he climbed in next to ally, immediately getting under the covers.

"hey cub," ally said softly, pushing his curls out of his face. azariah hummed, his eyes already closing. ally chuckled and looked up at dinah, "his sleeping habits resemble yours."

"he's a growing kid," dinah waved her off, "i'm going to go hang out with laur and mani, i'll be back in a bit," dinah said.

ally nodded, "don't be surprised if you come back to me sleeping," ally yawned, putting her phone on the nightstand.

dinah chuckled, "okay babe," dinah kissed ally's cheek and walked out. ally smiled, the ghost of dinah's lips still on her cheek as she turned to azariah.

dinah plopped down on the couch next to lauren.

"hey deej," lauren said.

"hello," dinah said quietly, turning to wrap herself around lauren.

"hey me too," normani scooted closer to lauren. lauren chuckled and they stayed like that until the movie was over and lauren declared it was time for bed.

the girls parted ways in the hall, bidding their good nights. as ally had said, when dinah walked into the room, she was sound asleep at the very edge of the bed while azariah was sleeping like a starfish in the middle. dinah chuckled and adjusted azariah so that he wasn't taking up half of the bed. then she went over and pushed ally in so that she wouldn't fall off. ally moaned, her eyebrows furrowing. dinah smiled a little and rubbed her arm.

"di?" ally mumbled.

"hey ally baby, just me," dinah whispered.

"come to bed," ally whined.

"yeah i'm coming, don't worry," dinah said, pushing a piece of hair out of ally's face. ally hummed, tugging dinah's arm. dinah sighed and climbed over ally and azariah, dinah reaching an arm towards ally to grab her hand. and that was how they fell asleep.

== + ==

it was no surprise that ally and lauren were the first ones up, lauren following shortly after ally. ally was in the kitchen preparing hot cocoa when lauren shuffled in with a yawn.

"morning sunshine," lauren muttered, planting herself in a stool.

"g'morning," ally smiled, "do you want some?"

"if you don't mind," lauren said. ally nodded and handed the fresh cup to lauren, making another for herself.

"what are our plans for the day?" ally asked, closing the microwave door.

"i didn't think that far," lauren frowned.

ally chuckled, "what's there to do around here?

i'd assume not much."

"yeah i don't know," lauren shrugged.

"let's just wait til mani and dinah get up to figure it out," ally waved her off, taking the mug out of the microwave.

"good idea," lauren nodded. ally joined her at the kitchen island with her mug.

"i think tomorrow we should get up early and drive down to go walk around pike," ally suggested.

"that sounds like fun," lauren said.

"also, i only have something super small for dinah, it's a necklace, and i don't just want to give her that so maybe, just maybe i can find something else too," ally grimaced.

lauren laughed, "why didn't you buy anything else?"

"i've been with her for like the past two weeks, i haven't gotten alone time. not that i'm complaining because i love having dinah around, but it just made it so that i hardly got any time to go look something else," ally shrugged.

"makes sense, also really not surprised," lauren snorted.

"about what?" ally raised her eyebrow.

"y'all are practically joint at the hip, date already," lauren said, taking a small sip of the cocoa.

"just friends," ally singsonged.

"whatever you say," lauren copied ally's tone, normani walking into the kitchen.

"morning," normani greeted.

"yello," lauren saluted.

"morning," ally smiled.

"oh is that hot cocoa?" normani's eyes widened at their mugs.

"i left the powder out," ally pointed to the counter space next to the microwave. normani began making herself a cup.

"any idea on what we're doing?" normani asked.

"we don't have a clue," lauren said.

"awesome, sounds perfect," normani said.

the trio fell into a comfortable silence, occasionally sipping at their mugs. then there was a loud thud and a groan in agony.

"oh god," ally grumbled, fully knowing it was dinah. ally led the way to their room, seeing dinah on the floor and azariah still fast asleep, once again spread like a starfish.

"damn kid always hogs the bed," dinah grumbled.

"you okay?" ally asked.

"yeah i'm alright," dinah said, looking up to find lauren and normani holding in laughter, "shut up."

"dude how do you get pushed off the bed by a two year old?" lauren snorted.

"it's more like him casually scooting you over until you reach the edge," dinah said, resting her back against the bed as ally crouched next to her, checking her for any serious injuries.

"you'll be okay," ally tapped dinah's cheek with her palm.

"thanks baby," dinah said softly. ally nodded and stood up, holding a hand out. dinah took it and got up with ease.

"are we sure this isn't dinah's kid? because little man sleeps like a champ," lauren said, looking at azariah.

"that's what i'm saying," ally chuckled, "always spending time with dinah."

"hey don't be surprised when he loves me more than you," dinah held a finger up as they moved back into the kitchen.

"he already does," ally chortled.

"you know, i think if he saw us all the same amount of time, i'd be his favorite. dinah is obviously his favorite because she's always with him. you know?" normani turned to lauren, who nodded.

"i'm sure dinah would be his least favorite if that was the case," lauren added.

"y'all are just jealous that i get to spend time with a good looking family and you don't," dinah mocked, rolling her eyes. ally was watching in amusement.

"i swear it's like we never stopped seeing each other," ally shook her head.

"i'm just upset we had shitty management," lauren scoffed.

"you think we would've been together for a little longer if we had better management?" normani asked.

"yea- hey that's mine," ally complained, softly slapping dinah as she took a sip of ally's hot chocolate. dinah smiled cheekily and put the cup back down. ally turned back to the conversation, "i think so. if we were even maybe under a different label as well."

"i agree. epic did us dirty when i look back on it," normani shook her head.

"but no matter where we are," dinah began, wrapping her arms around ally's shoulders to put her front against ally's back, "i'm grateful for everything we went through and the time we spent together. fifth harmony shaped who i am today, y'all are my backbone and i love you guys endlessly."

"don't make me cry it's nine in the morning," lauren said, fanning her eyes as she looked up. everyone laughed.

ally kissed along dinah's forearm, "i don't know who i'd be without you guys," she added.

"i think i speak for all of us when i say that we'd be nowhere without each other. and i'm glad it was us," lauren said.

"agreed," normani nodded, not being able to say anything without crying.

"so, now that the sob sesh is over, what're we doing today?" lauren asked, wiping under her eyes.

"we could go walking, see what this place is all about, hang out by the lake, throw snow at each other," normani shrugged, looking out the window in the kitchen, fresh layers of snow on and around their car.

"that sounds like a good idea, i'm going to make toast in the meantime, would anyone like?" dinah asked, planting a kiss on ally's head before moving away to grab the bread.

"can you make one for aj and i? i'm going to go check on him," ally said, getting out of her stool.

"i'll take one as well," lauren raised her hand.

"i'll help," normani smiled, rounding the kitchen counter.

ally walked into the bedroom to find azariah curled in a ball.

"zaza baby-" ally frowned when she heard sniffling. azariah looked up and pushed himself into ally, tears running down his cheeks. "aj what's wrong cariño?"

"i-i t'ought yo-you an' eena lef' m-me," he said through harsh breaths.

"oh cub i'm so sorry," ally held him by his waist, wiping his tears, "i was just out in the kitchen with your aunties. we thought you were still sleeping. we would never leave you, you're my man."

ally rubbed azariah's back until he calmed down, his breaths slowing into hiccups, "are you okay now?"

"'es," he nodded.

"i'm sorry baby i promise either eena or i will be there when you wake up, okay?" ally said.

"okay," he said.

"you want to go wash your face, then say good morning to everyone?" ally suggested. azariah nodded again and leaned into ally, ally picking him up off the bed and taking him into the bathroom.

"hey cub, whoa what's with the frown?" dinah looked up when azariah ran into the kitchen, azariah's eyes a little puffy and red and the small frown on his face still hadn't left. dinah picked azariah up, balancing him on her hip as she pulled the bread from the toaster.

"i t'ought you an' mama lef' me," he mumbled.

dinah furrowed her eyebrows and put him on the counter, standing in front of him, "is it because we weren't there when you woke up?"

he nodded, "you guys is a'ways dere when i wake up an', an' you not dere today an' i was sad," he explained, looking at dinah.

"okay, i'm sorry king. we were in there before you woke up but we didn't want to wake you so we came outside in the kitchen. i promise we won't ever leave you, okay?" dinah said, resting her hand on his cheek. azariah leaned into the comforting touch.

"pinky p'omise?" azariah held his pinky out.

dinah smiled, "pinky promise," she wrapped her pinky around his tiny one and kissed his hand, "i love you."

"i love you too," azariah leaned into her chest, wrapping his arms around dinah's shoulders as far as he could. dinah chuckled and picked the boy back up, allowing him to rest his head on her shoulder. ally picked herself up from the doorframe and walked away with a smile, joining lauren in the living room.

"breakfast!" dinah exclaimed. a little after halfway into making the toast, normani had given up and went to set the table. along with toast, dinah had made guacamole after seeing the avocado on the counter.

= + =

"hurry up we're all waiting on you!" lauren yelled into the house.

"girl what is new," dinah shook her head, standing next to the raven haired girl as ally walked away with azariah's hand in hers, talking to him.

"seriously, what takes this woman this long?" lauren snorted.

normani came around the corner while putting her last jacket on, a big white puffy one, "sorry."

"yeah yeah, we're all used to it," dinah dismissed.

"whatever," normani rolled her eyes, walking out of the cabin. lauren locked the door and they all stepped off of the front porch, into the crunchy snow. "can we go down to the lake?" normani asked.

"of course," lauren said, leading the way.

"als," dinah called before following lauren and normani. ally looked up from azariah bending down. "we're going down to the lake," dinah beckoned for her to join.

ally nodded, "aj go to eena." azariah looked up and saw dinah waving at him. azariah dropped the snow in his hand and began running towards dinah. "be careful azariah," ally called after, following carefully.

"i gots it mama!" azariah exclaimed, running into dinah's legs.

"hey king, wanna head down to the lake?" dinah asked, readjusting the boy's beanie.

"'es p'ease," azariah reached for dinah's hand, dinah gladly letting him hold onto her fingers as they began walking. ally caught up and stood on azariah's side as he naturally reached for her hand. "ups!" azariah exclaimed. dinah chuckled and got a better grip on the boy's hand.

"alright, ready?" dinah asked. azariah nodded fervently, "one, two, three!" dinah and ally each pulled azariah up, lifting him off of the floor as they walked towards lauren and normani at the edge of the water.

"'gain!" azariah squealed. lauren pulled her phone out and recorded the interaction.

"one, two, three!" azariah laughed and screamed as he was lifted off of the ground, curling his knees to his chest. dinah and ally smiled at each other.

"'gain!"

"okay one more, one two three!" azariah threw his head back in laughter. lauren smiled and saved the video, and slyly posted in on snapchat.

"now go tackle aunty bear," dinah bent down and told azariah. azariah giggled and ran along the pebbles, right into normani's legs.

"whoa!" normani exclaimed, making azariah laugh.

"eena told me tack'o you," azariah explained.

"did she now?" normani looked up at dinah. dinah shrugged with a smile, wrapping an arm around ally's shoulders.

"riah do you know how to skip rocks?" lauren asked, azariah shaking his head. lauren bent down and grabbed two rocks, handing one to azariah as she began explaining how to throw the rock.

"i don't know why she is teaching my son to throw rocks," ally laughed, dinah and normani joining.

"self defense," dinah shrugged.

"i don't think he'll be throwing rocks as self defense," normani raised an eyebrow, "at least i hope not."

"hopefully he won't need self defense at all," ally said.

"good job munch!" lauren gave him a high five after he threw a stone and managed to get it to skip once.

"i'm about to go show lauren how it's done," dinah smirked, pulling away from ally after a quick kiss on the temple, making ally bite back a smile. normani rolled her eyes and laughed.

"what?" ally looked at the girl next to her.

"nothing," normani shook her head with a grin, "don't worry about it."

"no tell me," ally whined.

"i seriously don't understand how you guys are just friends," normani said, looking at ally. ally felt heat rise to her cheeks despite the low temperature.

"oh," ally said softly.

"yeah, 'oh.' y'all act like you're married yet both of you say you're 'just friends'" — normani added air quotation marks with her fingers — "just friends my ass," normani chortled. ally rolled her eyes, not having a response.

"ha! beat that!" dinah teased, pointing to the rock she'd just skipped four times.

"mama look!" azariah exclaimed, looking back at ally and pointing as lauren skipped a rock.

"i'm looking cub," ally smiled and nodded.

"also you two call him the same things," normani added.

"she was the one who called him cub first. and she also calls him king, which i think is the cutest fucking thing ever. i don't call him that though, i tried to once and she got mad at me, so that nickname is reserved for only her to use," ally chuckled and shook her head, thinking back to the time dinah yelled at her.

"so what i'm hearing is you just stole all the names she calls him," normani smirked slightly.

ally rolled her eyes, "i'm just around her all the time that it just naturally comes out. she still calls him baby and things like that, things that i call him."

"confirmation, you two are already married. i don't need anymore evidence," normani nodded.

"you're a child, normani," ally said.

"only if i get to be adopted by dinally, will i be a child," normani smiled.

ally laughed, "gosh i haven't heard that in so long."

"ally! mani! c'mon, we're having a contest," lauren waved the girls to the shoreline. ally and normani made their way over.

"three tries to get the most skips," dinah explained.

"find your rocks!" lauren clapped, everyone spreading out a little to search for smooth, flat pebbles.

after each girl found three pebbles, they met back up where they originally were, by the dock.

"dinah, go first," lauren said, pointing to her at the end of their line. dinah nodded and stepped a little further towards the water.

dinah threw the first rock and it skipped four times; she shrugged it off. ally rolled her eyes at her cockiness as she wound up to throw another. her second rock ended up skipping four times and her last six.

"beat that," dinah said, dropping an imaginary microphone as she walked away.

"so cocky," ally snorted.

"you can't do better than that," dinah scoffed.

"is that a challenge?" ally raised an eyebrow.

"so i think ally's going next," lauren said, normani nodding in agreement. ally looked at dinah, giving her a wink before turning to the water. dinah's knees went weak almost instantly, but she couldn't show any weakness during a competition.

"if i beat your score, you owe me," ally pointed back at dinah, who nodded (though a little unsure as to what she'd owe, but she wasn't all too focused on that).

"don't mess up," dinah said as ally began to draw her arm back. ally shook her head slightly before flinging the rock forward, having it skip five times. ally looked back and gave dinah a smirk. dinah just rolled her eyes, seeming unbothered.

"this is so intense," normani whispered.

"i didn't think we were getting this serious," lauren nodded in agreement.

"well, you did propose a competition, and you know how dinah gets. and she rubbed off on ally. and they've got their weird sexual tension," normani listed off.

"i can hear you," dinah said softly.

"that's the whole point," lauren smiled. ally flicked her wrist, the stone hitting the water a total of seven times.

"whoa ally!" normani exclaimed.

"do 'gain mama!" azariah exclaimed, watching his mother in awe. ally smile at azariah and nodded, turning to let go of the last rock. this throw took the lead at a total of eight skips.

ally turned back around with a triumphant smirk on her lips, looking directly at dinah. dinah shifted slightly under ally's gaze.

"you know, if i'm being completely honest i don't think i can beat eight," normani said, looking at lauren as ally rejoined the group.

"me too, should we go inside? get warm?" lauren asked.

"hot coco?" azariah asked, looking up at the adults.

"sure buddy, race you inside," lauren tapped his shoulder.

"you're both losing!" normani took off with a laugh, lauren picking azariah up and running after normani.

"so," dinah said as she and ally began to walk back up to the cabin, "what do i owe you?"

"i haven't decided yet, but when i come up with something i'll let you know," ally smiled sweetly.

dinah chuckled, "oh boy." ally grabbed dinah's arm and put it around herself, putting her arm around dinah's waist, under her unzipped jacket. dinah smiled and rubbed ally's shoulder, "it's so pretty out here," she looked around, taking in the scenery as they sauntered up towards the cabin.

"it almost feels like a whole other world," ally mumbled, looking at her feet to make sure she wasn't going to fall. they got to the bottom of the steps to the porch and dinah stopped them, turning ally towards her.

"you know what i find prettier though?" dinah asked quietly, putting her arms on ally's shoulders. ally hummed with a shake of her head. "you," dinah said quietly, smiling a little as ally looked down with a blush on her face.

"you're one to talk," ally poked dinah's cheek.

"well duh i know i'm pretty. but i like telling you you're pretty," dinah said.

ally rolled her eyes, "typical."

"hey you love it," dinah said, her hands together, her thumb rubbing on the nape of the blonde's neck.

"if that's what you'd like to believe," ally snorted.

"both of us know that it's true," dinah singsonged.

"okay," ally copied.

"let's go inside before they think we've done something," dinah said.

ally chuckled, "agreed." dinah's hands dropped as the pair walked into the house. dinah helped ally out of her extra layers before pulling off hers.

"yours are in the microwave," normani pointed.

"thanks," dinah nodded.

"be careful kid," lauren told azariah, who was reaching for his hot mug.

"blow?" azariah looked between the cup and lauren.

"it's still going to be hot though," lauren said, blowing on the drink anyway.

"baby wait a little longer, okay? i don't want you to burn your mouth," ally said, standing across from the three as dinah grabbed their mugs.

azariah huffed, "fine."

normani chuckled, "i don't get how this is ally's child. he acts just like dinah."

"yeah like the king he is," dinah said, winking at azariah, making him giggle.

"you're so full of yourself," ally rolled her eyes as dinah placed the mug in front of her.

"confidence is key," dinah protested, blowing on her mug.

"you'd think dinah spends so much time with ally that she'd humble herself, but it's like it did the exact opposite," normani snorted.

"ally you boosted her ego," lauren said.

"i have nothing to say," ally shrugged, looking at dinah, who smiled sweetly.

"mama i dwink now?" azariah looked from his cup to ally, the vapor not as much as before.

"aunty lauren will help you," ally looked at lauren, who nodded.

"fast sip, in case it's too hot," lauren said, putting the cup to his lips and tilting it just barely before pulling it away.

"no s'okay," azariah said. lauren nodded and helped him drink more before putting it down, a mustache left behind. dinah chuckled and wiped it with a napkin.

just then did dinah's phone begin ringing. dinah flipped it over and her eyes widened at the name on screen. she held it up, getting similar reactions from the girls.

"you've talked to her before?" lauren asked.

"we've probably had, at maximum, two very short conversations, and i saw her at a concert once," dinah shrugged, the phone still ringing.

"go answer it," ally pushed dinah lightly. dinah exhaled a long breath and nodded, taking the call into the bedroom. lauren and normani looked at ally questionably. "what?" ally asked.

"you know anything about that?" lauren inquired.

ally sighed, "like she said they haven't talked very much. but when they did she was an emotional wreck. they had a conversation about her leaving and she stayed home for a few days, her own house i mean. i was worried, she didn't pick up my calls or answer texts, but she eventually came back. then when they saw each other at the concert dinah was shaking the entire night. you know how much of a soft spot she has for her."

"i wonder what she called about," normani mumbled.

"mama," azariah said.

"yeah cub?" ally looked at azariah with a soft smile.

"i ti'ed," he said, rubbing his eyes with fists.

"okay, do you wanna take a nap?" ally offered.

"'es p'ease," azariah reached towards ally, wanting to be picked up.

"let's go put you down, i'll be back," ally looked at lauren and normani, both girls nodding.

"we'll be in the living room," lauren said, getting up. ally nodded and picked azariah up.

ally walked into the master bedroom to find dinah pacing around, the phone to her ear as she bit her nails. she looked up to see ally and a sleepy azariah. ally mouthed 'i'm going to put him down' to dinah, who nodded and continued her conversation.

"you be here?" azariah asked tiredly.

"of course, cariño," ally whispered, putting him in the middle of the bed. she put two pillows on either side of him and laid down next to him, rubbing his stomach to coax him to sleep, "go to sleep cub, we'll be here," ally reassured. azariah hummed, his curls falling in front of his face as his eyes closed. ally pushed his curls back and continued to rub his stomach until his breathing evened out. she stayed on the bed and looked at dinah, who was in the bathroom playing with the things on the counter. she sighed softly and laid back.

"no, no, sorry to get your hopes up," dinah chuckled.

"but you guys would be so cute together!" camila whined into the phone.

dinah turned from the vanities and looked back at the bed, "don't worry, i'm working on it."

"that's good to hear, how's the little guy? gosh his pictures are adorable," camila gushed.

"he's good, rascal little one," dinah smiled.

"as he should be. he's so lucky to be surrounded by you guys," camila trailed off.

"yeah he is," dinah said, unsure of how to continue the conversation.

"well, i better let you go," camila sighed.

"thanks for calling," dinah said.

"no problem, merry christmas."

"merry christmas," dinah said, hanging up. she let out a loud sigh and walked over to ally, scooting her way onto the bed. ally looked at her with curious eyes. "she called to congratulate me on the new single, and to say happy holidays," dinah explained. ally nodded.

"you okay?" she asked, turning to dinah and propping her head up.

dinah exhaled, "it was a little weird, unexpected. but uh, i think i'm okay this time."

"you aren't going to run away for a few days?" ally raised an eyebrow.

dinah chuckled, "no, no i'm not. i'm still sorry about that."

"don't be," ally shook her head, "i was just teasing."

"i know," dinah whispered. ally leaned forward and put her head on dinah's shoulder.

"i love you," ally said softly.

"i love you too," dinah smiled, resting her head on ally's.

"the two other nimwits are outside waiting," ally said.

"we better go outside then," dinah laughed lightly.

ally groaned, "let's go. they're so needy."

"says you," dinah snorted.

"yeah and what about it?" ally glared up at dinah. dinah rolled her eyes and kissed in between ally's eyebrows.

"c'mon babe, let's go," dinah got up, making ally whine a little, but she followed anyway.

lauren and normani were on the couch watching another movie when dinah and ally joined them.

"child is done for his nap, now what?" ally plopped in between lauren and normani, dinah sitting next to lauren.

"girl nap time sounds amazing right now," normani snorted.

"then go join my son," ally giggled.

"you know what, maybe i will," normani got up and walked away towards the hallway.

"oh hell no, i'm not third wheeling," lauren got up and fast walked behind normani.

"so much for coming outside," ally snorted.

"we should've stayed in the room," dinah continued, shaking her head.

"oh well," ally pushed herself onto dinah to lay on top of her, resting her head on dinah's shoulder. dinah's arms instinctively wrapped around ally's waist. dinah let out a long breath. "everything okay?" ally looked up at dinah.

dinah smiled a little and nodded, "just thinking is all."

"what's going on in that pretty head of yours?" ally asked softly.

"a lot," dinah chuckled lightly, "a lot smalls."

ally frowned a little, "why so much?"

dinah shrugged, "you know me," dinah reached and pushed hair out of ally's face, "me and all of my overthinking."

"i wish i could help, i'm sorry i can't," ally said, biting her lip slightly.

dinah shook her head, "it isn't your fault baby. don't worry about it, i'll figure it out eventually."

"i'll be here to support you," ally put her head down on dinah's chest again.

"i know," dinah said quietly, running her hand through honey blonde hair.

they stayed like that for a while until ally sat up, looking down on dinah, "let's go sleep in our bed, i promised azariah we'd be there when he wakes up." dinah nodded and waited for ally to get off of her lap to get up.

normani and lauren were on either side of azariah when they walked into the room, light snores filling the room. ally chuckled and managed to sneak a picture before getting in next to normani. normani turned over and wrapped herself around ally, nuzzling into her. dinah got in next to lauren and lauren immediately attached to dinah.

"just like old times," dinah said.

ally giggled, "just like old times."

= + =

"honestly, that was one of the best naps i've had," dinah said, looking at lauren.

"for real, that bed is so comfortable. i might sneak in in the middle of the night," lauren smirked.

"uh uh, no you don't," dinah held her finger up.

lauren chuckled, "it was a joke. why whatchu do at night?"

dinah rolled her eyes, "i sleep comfortably, thank you very much."

lauren looked down the hall, "since those two won't be up for a minute, you wanna smoke?"

dinah contemplated a little before shrugging, "sure."

lauren nodded, "i'll be back." she got up and made her way to the room. dinah sighed and picked up her phone, scrolling mindlessly. she came across a video of her and ally lifting azariah, from earlier. she raised an eyebrow, how did the fans have this?

"what's this?" dinah held the video up to lauren when she came back with a bag in her hand.

"oh, a video," lauren shrugged.

"did you take it?" dinah asked, following lauren to the door and putting her jacket on.

"yeah," lauren snickered.

"gosh," dinah chuckled.

"want me to take it down?" lauren asked as they stepped outside onto the porch, sitting at the table.

"too late now, it's not that big of a deal," dinah waved her off.

"yeah because you guys will be together eventually?" lauren asked, beginning to take everything out of her small pouch.

"we'll see," dinah shrugged with a smug smile on her face.

lauren quirked an eyebrow in dinah's direction as she put a bud into the grinder, "oh really?"

"hopefully anyway," dinah mumbled.

lauren laughed and rolled her eyes, "she's going to say yes. there's literally no question about it." dinah hummed. "i'm serious. don't doubt that. she looks at you like you're the love of her life, because you are."

"okay," dinah said quietly. they sat in a comfortable silence until lauren was done grinding and rolling. lauren lit the blunt and took the first hit, passing it to dinah.

"when was the last time you did this?" lauren asked.

dinah exhaled and handed the blunt back, "long time ago."

"you're in for a ride, this shit hits different," lauren laughed.

"i'd like one of those right about now," dinah snorted.

"ask ally i'm sure she'd be down," lauren smirked. dinah rolled her eyes as she got the blunt back. "what'd camila call about?"

dinah took another hit before handing it back, "called to congratulate me on the new single, and to say happy holidays. and how she wanted to get together when she was in la again next year."

lauren grunted, dragging a little longer, "you gunna?" she exhaled to her right.

dinah shrugged, "last time i saw her i could barely form words."

"i mean you don't have to if you don't want to," lauren said, giving dinah the blunt.

dinah nodded as she inhaled, "i know."

"how do you feel when she hits you up like that?" lauren asked as dinah hit another time.

"weird. like i feel like she shouldn't be. it's weird that she kept my number after all this time. you'd think with how she left she'd gotten rid of it," dinah shrugged, "i don't know."

"do you miss her?" lauren tilted her head, inhaling.

"little bit, i think. i don't know, she was the one i got close to first, and her being the same age as me made it easier for the both of us," dinah sighed, shaking her head as she took the blunt from lauren.

"yeah, it's okay to miss her. in terms of her you two were the closest, so i understand that. and she left abruptly, unfair to us. it was just messed up and fucked with us," lauren said.

"you miss her?" dinah asked.

"yes and no," lauren shrugged, "her and i clicked, it was easy to be around her. sometimes i miss that, but then i remember how she left without warning and never formally apologized, and that is what makes me stop missing her."

"right," dinah mumbled.

"don't let my thoughts influence you though, you guys have a different relationship from me and her," lauren said, the blunt almost gone after dinah's last inhale. she began hitting it fast to keep the burning sensation out of her throat, finishing it off. she tossed the roach off the porch and into the snow.

"it'll just feel weird you know?" dinah sighed.

"yeah, maybe you can ask camila if ally can tag along?" lauren suggested.

dinah shrugged, "maybe."

"you should, ally's your safe haven, she's there when she needs you," lauren sat back, her hands behind her head.

"safe haven," dinah mumbled, her eyelids getting a little heavy.

"mhm buddy, safe haven. you don't understand how lucky you are to have someone like ally in your life, man," lauren said.

dinah snorted, "of course i do. i count my blessings twice because of her."

"i think everyone deserves an ally in their life," lauren said.

"i do too," dinah nodded.

"check up, you good?" lauren asked.

"i'm chillin'," dinah smiled slightly, "you?"

"yeah i'm good," lauren nodded. both girls looked up when the front door opened.

"oh, sorry," ally said, going to turn back inside.

"no als you weren't interrupting, what's up?" lauren called.

ally poked her head back out, "mani and i were just trying to decide on dinner. why don't you guys come inside? it's getting a little cold."

"good idea smalls," dinah stood up as lauren packed her things up. dinah walked inside first as ally waited for lauren.

"eena!" azariah ran to dinah, hugging her legs.

"king! how was your nap?" dinah asked, picking the boy up. lauren walked past and immediately flopped onto the couch, snuggling into a pillow.

"good," azariah giggled, "why your eyes red?" he tilted his head, poking dinah's cheek. ally chuckled and walked into the kitchen.

"they were itchy," dinah scrunched her nose up, "but it's okay, they feel better now."

"no itchy?" azariah asked.

"nope," dinah smiled, kissing all over his face.

"eena," azariah laughed, squealing in her arms.

"let's go see what mama is cooking," dinah said, walking into the kitchen.

"where's lauren?" normani asked.

"couch," dinah nodded towards the living room. dinah sat in a stool and put azariah on the counter in front of her, laying her head in azariah's lap. azariah giggled and ran his hand through dinah's hair, gently like ally taught him.

"how does chicken parmesan sound?" ally suggested, looking at the contents in their freezer.

"yeah let's do it," normani smiled.

"that sounds really good," dinah mumbled, her eyes closing slowly.

"here babe," ally said softly, putting a bottle of water in front of her face before walking off to the living room. dinah leaned back and drank the water before going back to her position in azariah's lap.

"eena," azariah hunched over to rest his head on dinah's.

"yeah king?" dinah whispered.

"i love you," azariah said, still running his hand through dinah's hair.

"love you too cub," dinah smiled, closing her eyes again.

"take nap eena," azariah said.

"okay king, thank you," dinah wrapped her arms around azariah.

= + =

"i can't believe that happened," lauren laughed loudly, covering her mouth as the others joined.

"i was camera man! barely got her fall, but oh gosh i couldn't stop laughing," dinah said through laughter. ally chuckled and face palmed.

"i miss yolanda, bring her back," lauren added after calming down.

"maybe i will," ally said.

"mama who yo'anda?" azariah asked.

"this character mama made up long time ago," ally explained, pulling his hair back into a ponytail.

"and ally remember that one time our disc players just did not work and we almost broke the disc because we dropped it?" normani mentioned, everyone joining in to laugh again.

"we never got those things to work," ally said, shaking her head.

"mine worked though," dinah said, flipping her hair.

"you got lucky that's why," lauren rolled her eyes.

"true," dinah said.

"alright," normani said, "i think it's time to hit the hay if we're getting up early for pike tomorrow." just then azariah yawned.

"i think king agrees too," dinah said, rubbing his chin. azariah nodded, reaching for dinah. dinah put him in her lap, finishing the last bite on her plate before standing. ally grabbed her, azariah, and dinah's plates before walking into the kitchen, normani following with the other two plates.

"check up," lauren said.

"i'm vibing, you?" dinah looked at lauren, she gave her the okay sign. dinah nodded and began walking away, "goodnight!"

"g'night!" azariah copied dinah's tone.

"goodnight family, see you in the morning!" normani said, walking into her room.

"alright cub, let's get you into pajamas and into bed," dinah said, sitting next to azariah on the floor.

"i wear dat," azariah pointed to a larger tee that dinah had bought him. dinah smiled and grabbed it after undressing the boy. she put it over his head and tickled his stomach, making him giggle. dinah picked him up and gently threw him on the bed when she was standing on the side. azariah reached for a pillow and curled into it, his eyes closing. dinah chuckled and pushed his curls out of his face before kissing him on the cheek.

ally walked into the room after quickly chatting with lauren and making sure she got to her room.

"already down?" ally whispered, looking at the bed. dinah nodded from her spot on the bench at the foot of the bed. "what're you doing?"

"thinking about showering now or in the morning," dinah said softly.

"go shower stink girl," ally teased. dinah frowned and looked at ally. ally's eyebrows furrowed as she took a seat next to dinah.

"what's wrong?" ally asked softly.

dinah shrugged, "i dunno," she whispered, "sometimes i get emotional when i get high."

ally chuckled, "oh, okay. but you're okay?"

dinah shrugged again, "camila wants to get together when we're back in la."

"oh, how do you feel about that?" ally looked at dinah.

dinah exhaled, "i don't know, weird is the best way i can describe it."

"why do you feel weird about it?" ally pressed.

"because it's camila," dinah groaned.

"camila, yes. why do you feel weird about camila?" ally continued.

"because she left!" dinah bursted out, standing abruptly. ally got up and grabbed her hands, looking briefly at azariah to find him still sleeping. dinah sighed and sat back down, "sorry."

ally shook her head and stood in front of dinah, "it's okay. your feelings are valid and okay. relax," ally reached to massage dinah's shoulders. dinah visually relaxed when ally began kneading her biceps. dinah leaned forward to rest her head on ally's chest.

"i'm sorry," dinah whimpered, her eyes squeezing shut.

"don't be sorry, baby," ally frowned, "it's okay. we're okay."

"i don't feel okay," dinah muttered. ally leaned back and grabbed dinah's chin, tilting her face upward.

ally studied her face for a few seconds, "that's okay. you can't always feel okay all the time."

"i know but it just sucks and i don't want to dump it on you," dinah explained.

"that's what i'm here for my love. i'm here to help you through anything and everything. and i'd hope you'd do the same for me" — dinah nodded her head vigorously, making ally smile a little — "see? we're in this together. it's you and i, bubba." more tears fell from dinah's eyes, "why are you crying?" ally laughed.

"because you're too good for me," dinah chuckled, ally wiping her tears away.

"you're the best i could ask for," ally whispered, kissing in between dinah's eyebrows.

"you mean that?" dinah asked with wide eyes, making ally smile.

"yes i do, wholeheartedly," ally nodded.

dinah grinned, "i could kiss you right about now."

ally raised an eyebrow, "what's stopping you?" dinah's eyes dropped to ally's lips.

"nothing really," dinah murmured.

"so why aren't you kissing me yet?" ally asked. dinah cracked a smile and craned her neck upward, putting her lips on ally's.

the kiss was slow and sweet, lips moving perfectly in sync as if they've kissed a hundred times before. dinah's hands found their way to the small of ally's back, pulling her closer. ally put her hands on dinah's face. dinah swiped her tongue against ally's bottom lip, gaining immediate entrance. by this time, dinah's hands found the back of ally's thighs, gripping them as she pulled ally into her lap to straddle her. dinah leaned back against the foot of the bed, ally pushing closer.

after a couple more minutes passed by, dinah had to pull away, completely out of breath, ally heaving slightly above her. dinah held eye contact as ally rubbed her thumb against dinah's cheek.

"you're a good fucking kisser," dinah breathed out, ally laughing softly.

"i'm surprised, haven't kissed someone in years," ally said.

"since boy toy named troy?" dinah smirked slightly. ally threw her head back slightly, more laughter falling from her lips.

"no actually, i had a brief thing with will but it didn't workout," ally said.

"as in manager will?" dinah raised an eyebrow. ally nodded. dinah scoffed, "neither of them deserved your attention."

"and you're saying you do?" ally teased.

"well fuck i thought it was obvious that i liked you," dinah snorted.

"only like huh?" ally continued.

dinah rolled her eyes, "what do you want me to say?"

"the truth," ally shrugged.

dinah sighed, her left hand finding a spot where ally's shirt had ridden up on her side, her thumb rubbing circles on ally's exposed skin, "i am so head over heels for you."

ally beamed, "i like the sound of that."

"that's the only kind of response i get?!" dinah asked.

"fine, i am very much in love with you as well," ally said softly.

"that's more like it," dinah smiled.

"it took us a minute, but we got there," ally nodded, dinah chuckling.

"also, i forgot to mention i get a little bold when high," dinah added.

"you think? sober dinah wouldn't have said that," ally chortled.

"sober dinah's been wanting to say that though. and high dinah meant every word she said," dinah shrugged.

"i know, me too," ally said softly.

"let's go to bed, we've got to get up early tomorrow," dinah said, patting ally's butt lightly.

"right, i forgot about that," ally said, not moving.

"yeah, so are you going to move?" dinah asked.

"but i like it here, it's comfortable," ally smiled.

"damn kid," dinah grumbled, standing up with ally still attached to her. she rounded the bedpost and put ally down first, the girl climbing over azariah to allow dinah in bed.

"night bubs," ally said. dinah reached over azariah and pecked ally's lips.

"night baby."

== + ==

"mama," azariah whined while ally put oatmeal in the microwave.

"yes baby?" ally turned to look at her son giving her grabby hands, "give me just a second," ally trailed off, pressing three minutes then turning to azariah, picking him up off of the counter. azariah leaned his head onto ally's shoulder.

"i ti'ed," azariah mumbled.

"i know cub, you can sleep in the car," ally said, bouncing around, patting him on the back.

"almost ready?" lauren came into the kitchen, looking just about ready to go.

"yeah, almost," ally smiled briefly.

"hi aun'y lo," azariah said quietly.

"hi niño, how'd you sleep?" lauren smiled, standing behind ally.

"good," azariah said.

"that's good buddy, gunna take a nap in the car?" lauren chuckled at the boy's tired eyes. azariah nodded with a yawn.

"ally! where the fuck is my jacket?!" dinah yelled from the room.

"dinah jane watch your language!" ally exclaimed back with a roll of her eyes.

"sorry! but where is it?!"

"uh, couch i think!"

"thank you!"

"bruh shut up," normani grumbled, shuffling into the kitchen.

"someone pissed in your cereal," lauren snorted as the girl sat in a stool. the microwave finally beeped, ally grabbing the bowl out and putting it on the island.

"cariño, can lauren feed you? mama has to go get ready before we're late," ally said, sitting azariah up.

"bu' mama," azariah whined.

"but nothing cub, let lolo feed you, okay? i'll be right back," ally said, rubbing his legs. azariah began crying softly. "no baby no tears, everything's okay, i'm just going to be down the hall," ally sighed, comforting the little boy.

"mama," azariah whimpered.

"i know i know," ally bit her lip, trying to think of ways to get ready and feed azariah, "alright, laur do you mind packing up the oatmeal into a container? i have to get ready if we're going to leave on time."

"yeah of course, go get ready," lauren nodded, grabbing the bowl.

"thank you so much," ally picked azariah up and took him to their room. ally put azariah down on the floor next to her suitcase, "zaza i need you to stay there so that mama can get ready, okay?"

"king what's going on?" dinah asked, sitting on the floor next to azariah. azariah pulled himself into dinah's lap, ally sighing gratefully as she quickly changed out of her pajamas. azariah began crying again, looking up at dinah. dinah frowned, "it's okay cub, no need for tears, look mama's right there," dinah pointed at ally as she pulled her long sleeve over her head.

"hi baby," ally smiled, looking at azariah. azariah got up and waddled over to ally, grabbing at her leg as tears streamed down his face. ally let out a breath as she pulled on a coat, thankfully having put her jeans on first.

"what's up with him?" dinah asked, standing up and wiping her jeans.

ally shrugged, "i don't know." once her coat was on, she picked azariah up, "baby can you tell me what's wrong?"

"mama," azariah mumbled softly.

"yes, that's me, now what's wrong cariño?" ally asked again.

"scawy d'eam," azariah mumbled. dinah shared a sad look with ally.

"what happened in the scary dream?" ally asked.

azariah began tearing up again, "you an', an' eena get, get taken away an' i-i no can fin' 'ou," azariah said through harsh breaths as he cried for the third time that morning. dinah stepped up to ally and azariah, rubbing azariah's back.

"oh king we're right here, baby," dinah cooed.

"we're not going anywhere, love bug. it was just a dream, wasn't real," ally said softly.

"bu' scawy," azariah hiccuped, his fingers finding their way into his mouth, something he did when he was scared, sick, or feeling extremely baby like.

"cub don't do that," ally pulled his fingers out of his mouth, "i know the dream was scary but both eena and i are right here, you can see us. you want eena to carry you? so you can feel her too?" ally asked, looking at dinah briefly. azariah nodded slowly, leaning towards dinah as dinah took him into her arms.

"see? all better now, right king?" dinah asked, rubbing his back. azariah sniffled and nodded, feeling much better after being reassured neither of them had left.

"do you still want to go out?" ally inquired.

"'es," azariah hiccuped.

"you sure? we can always stay back," ally continued.

"no, i go," azariah said.

"okay, let's go then," ally said with a soft sigh. dinah reached over azariah and placed a kiss on ally's forehead, both of their bodies flooding with relief.

"boy's all better?" normani asked softly, seeing ally walk into the kitchen.

"yeah, he had a dream where dinah and i got taken away and it scared him," ally explained.

"that makes sense," lauren nodded.

"let's get going," ally said, the trio moving out of the kitchen and into the living room, putting on their boots and outside coats. dinah put azariah's things on first before getting her own on.

once everyone was settled in the van, lauren driving, the five piece were on their way for a small road trip south to pike place market.

azariah was in a better mood, he happily ate his oatmeal and even sang along with some of the songs before knocking out for the last half of the car ride.

"we're here!" lauren exclaimed, finally finding a parking spot in the parking garage. she put the car in park and cut the engine.

"aj wake up baby," ally shook the boy softly, but no prevail.

"c'mon little man," dinah tried, rubbing his shoulder, "damn kid sleeps like a rock."

"hmm, i wonder where he gets that from," ally glared at dinah.

dinah chuckled, "hey that's all your genes, not mine."

"your influence though," ally protested.

"just get out of the van, i'll get him up," dinah rolled her eyes, sitting in the last row of the van. ally sighed but complied, getting out. dinah took ally's spot and unbuckled azariah from his car seat. "king, it's time to get up buddy."

"eena," azariah swatted her hands away.

dinah chuckled, "you really are just like me," she muttered with a shake of her head, "c'mon dude, it's time to wake up."

"bu' no," azariah whined.

"but yes, c'mon king," dinah said.

azariah huffed, "cawy?"

dinah smiled, "sure," dinah got out of the car and pulled azariah out of his seat, propping him up on her hip.

"he sleeps like a log," lauren snorted.

"there's no way dinah didn't sneak half of her genes into him as well," normani said as the five piece began walking towards the elevator.

"mani i don't think that's possible," lauren looked at her friend quizzically.

"if it is then that's definitely what dinah did," normani continued.

"okay," lauren nodded, rolling her eyes at how stupid the idea sounded. they got on the elevator after letting people off, lauren pressing the ground floor button.

after taking pictures in front of the famous pike place market neon sign, the girls made their way inside, immediately wrapped in various scents of fresh fruits, vegetables, and fish. azariah pinched his nose, making the girls laugh. they shuffled slowly with the crowd, occasionally stopping when coming across cheap food.

even though they'd be in oregon for another three days, they still wanted to buy a few things for the cabin so that they didn't have to order food.

"ally, come on let's go to the shops!" lauren exclaimed, seeing the sign for the shops, looking at ally with a slight edge. ally's eyes widened in realization.

"okay," ally nodded, "cub you wanna go with me or eena?"

"i go witchu," azariah said. ally nodded.

"we're going to find someplace for lunch," normani said, catching the look lauren gave her.

"sounds good, text us when you find something!" lauren said as they began to get separated with the crowds. normani gave her a thumbs up and pulled dinah along.

"there's this really nice store that i think we might be able to find dinah something," lauren said, making sure ally was next to her with azariah in her arms.

finally reaching the store, ally looked up, 'solstice designs.'

"give it a chance," lauren said, guiding her into the store. they were greeted by one of the workers and then left on their own.

as they walked around slowly, admiring the various pieces of jewelry, an idea popped into ally's head.

"hey lo, do you know your birthstone?" ally asked, knowing both girls were born in june.

"um, i believe one of them is a pearl, hold on i know there's a few more," lauren took her phone out, beginning her google search.

"it's alexandrite and moonstone," a worker stepped up to them, obviously overbearing their conversation, "june right?"

"yeah," lauren nodded.

the worker nodded, "i'm gracie."

"nice to meet you, lauren and this is my friend ally," lauren said, smiling at the worker.

gracie nodded, "did you guys need help with anything?"

ally bit her lip, "well, i'm looking for a late christmas present," ally chuckled nervously.

"fo' eena?" azariah asked when ally shifted him to her other hip.

"yeah, but don't tell her, it's a secret," ally said. azariah nodded.

"here let me take him," lauren said. ally nodded and gave her son to lauren, who began walking around with him and talking about all of the stones.

gracie turned to ally, "so, christmas present. someone special?"

ally smiled slightly, "yeah."

"awesome, we just put a bunch of new stuff out, follow me and i'll show you," gracie led ally over to a table in the back left of the store, "so, we're still looking at june birthstones, correct?" ally nodded. "unfortunately we don't have an pearls or alexandrite, but we do happen to have moonstone," gracie pointed to a few different necklaces and rings.ally picked up the necklace with the moonstone shaped in a teardrop. "one of my personal favorites," gracie smiled.

"it's really pretty," ally nodded.

"a little background on the moonstone, it's a stone of new beginnings. it also is calming and naturing, relieves stress and any built up tension. it enhances one's intuition, as well as encourages good fortune and success when it comes to love and business," gracie explained.

"crazy how that relates a lot to my person," ally said.

gracie chuckled, "it is her birthstone, after all. i'd also like to mention that all of our stones are uniquely shaped, we don't cut them all the same, so it's a guarantee that your person is getting a one of a kind moonstone."

"thank you for explaining all of that, that's really interesting," ally said, still holding the necklace while looking up at gracie.

"just doing my job," gracie nodded. ally played with the necklace while looking at the ring, gracie took notice, "get the ring and the necklace, it'll be worth it," she whispered.

ally laughed, "gosh, i guess so. i hope she likes it."

"she will, don't worry," gracie winked, "if that's all i can help you at the register."

"um yeah i think that's it for me," ally said, looking up to find lauren coming up to her.

"find anything good?" lauren asked.

ally nodded, "moonstone."

"very pretty, i like your choices. what do you think buddy?" lauren questioned, ally holding up the necklace and ring for azariah.

"i 'ike, eena look pwetty," azariah smiled.

"awesome, you wanted to get anything?" ally looked at lauren.

lauren shook her head, "no i'm good. being surrounded by all this energy was enough."

"right! so powerful, i love it in here," gracie smiled.

"it's so calming in here," lauren nodded in agreement. ally hadn't noticed how relaxed she'd been, despite being nervous about not being able to find anything for dinah.

"alright, let's get you on your way so you can hide your special gift," gracie smiled, leading the trio over to the cash register.

after ally paid and thanked gracie for being so kind, they walked out and decided to call dinah and normani to see if they'd found anything to eat.

"hey what's up?" dinah spoke into the phone.

"where are you guys? we're finishing up," lauren said.

"we're waiting to get seated at bacco cafe," dinah said, reading from the large sign.

"okay, we'll make our way over."

"see you soon."

"see you." dinah hung up.

"they're on their way," dinah explained to normani when she got a questioning look.

lauren and ally arrived just as dinah's name was being called for their table.

"perfect timing," dinah smiled.

"eena!" azariah reached for dinah, dinah taking him from ally.

"hey king," dinah smiled as they all walked into the restaurant to get to their table.

once everyone was comfortably seated, dinah, azariah, and ally in one booth and normani and lauren across from them, they settled and looked at the menu before making conversation.

"aj what do you want buddy?" dinah asked.

"dat," azariah pointed to the ham and cheese omelette.

"you know what that is?" dinah chuckled.

"'es, mama make," azariah nodded. ally looked over to what he was talking about.

"oh yeah i've made omelettes before, you want ham and cheese?" ally asked.

"'es p'ease," azariah nodded.

"okay, we'll share because it looks a little big," ally said.

+

after spending the morning in downtown seattle, the girls decided to head back to the cabin to lounge, considering they were all tired of walking around and azariah was in need of a nap as he grew fussier the more he wasn't able to sleep.

as soon as azariah was buckled and given ally's jacket as a blanket, he was out like a light. ally offered to drive this time, feeling awake enough to do so. lauren didn't protest, her eyelids dropping every so often.

eventually it was ally up, music playing softly as she listened to the snores of her friends. dinah's hand was in her lap subconsciously, laying limp on her thigh. ally didn't mind, in fact it made her smile a little, especially when dinah would adjust in her seat but not remove her hand, despite the distance between dinah and ally's seats.

finally arriving at the cabin, ally shook dinah, "bubs we're here." dinah's eyebrows furrowed cutely, her nose scrunching up. ally grinned, poking dinah's cheek, "you're so cute."

"no i'm not," dinah said while stretching in her spot, "i'm big and scary."

"ooh, intimidating," ally teased.

dinah glared at the girl, still only half awake, "i am intimidating."

"okay," ally rolled her eyes.

dinah shoved ally's shoulder, "i am," she continued.

"i said 'okay,'" ally snorted.

"come here," dinah mumbled, her hand picking up from ally's thigh to her chin. ally smiled and leaned in over the center console, connecting their lips.

in the middle of their kiss they heard a camera click behind them. they pulled away immediately and looked behind, seeing lauren hit her forehead really hard.

"fuck," lauren groaned. dinah chuckled and looked back at ally, smiling. ally giggled and rolled her eyes, pecking dinah's lips before moving to get out of the van.

"oh girl," ally laughed as she opened the back door, looking at lauren's forehead, a clear red handprint in the middle. dinah opened the other door to get azariah out of the car, taking him inside.

"i may need an ice pack," lauren mumbled, getting out of the car.

"yeah, maybe," ally chuckled, going in to wake normani in the very last row, the girl laid out, "mani, wake up, we're back." ally shook her shoulder.

"ally," normani whined, trying to push ally's hand off of her shoulder.

"normani getcho ass up," ally rolled her eyes.

"fine," normani grumbled, stretching before opening her eyes.

"y'all all sleep like logs," ally shook her head, getting out of the van.

"why are you surprised?" normani snorted, closing the door behind her.

"i'm really not, it just fuckin' sucks trying to wake you guys up," ally said as they made their way into the house.

after taking off her outdoor layers, ally walked to the room, where she assumed dinah and azariah were. as she got closer she heard giggling. she peered into the doorway to see dinah blowing raspberries on azariah's stomach, making him squeal and laugh every time she did so.

"so are y'all together or what?" lauren whispered next to her, making ally jump.

"oh my god lauren!" ally whisper yelled, shoving the girl's shoulder slightly.

"sorry. answer the question," lauren said.

ally sighed and shrugged, "don't know, we just kissed. didn't talk about it much."

"interesting," lauren nodded, walking away. ally rolled her eyes and walked in.

"what's going on in here?" ally smiled.

"mama! he'p! eena 'tack!" azariah exclaimed. dinah looked at ally, flickering her eyes between her and azariah. ally nodded slightly. dinah nodded three times before both girls attacked azariah in tickles and kisses, making him scream as he tried to push away their faces.

"you have to be the cutest couple on planet earth, huh?" normani and lauren stood at the bedroom door, lauren lowering her phone.

"it's okay mani, you'll find someone," ally smiled.

"okay well now my standards are inexplicably high because of you guys, so maybe i won't," normani huffed.

dinah laughed, "girl bye, have fun."

"ugh c'mon lauren, let's go watch a movie or something," normani said, grabbing lauren's hand.

"i've got a better idea," lauren said. ally rolled her eyes and turned back to azariah, who was now sleeping soundly. ally's eyes widened in shock as she pointed at him, looking at dinah.

"your kid," dinah shrugged. ally snorted and put him more in the middle of the bed as dinah sat down, taking her socks off.

"i can't believe tomorrow is christmas eve," ally said softly, sitting next to dinah.

"me too, it's crazy," dinah said, throwing her socks in the general direction of her suitcase.

"by the way, you're my girlfriend," ally said, looking at dinah for her reaction.

dinah's lips pulled into a line, "you aren't even going to ask?"

ally shook her head, "i don't have to."

"i mean you aren't wrong," dinah shrugged.

"good," ally said quietly, moving to straddle dinah, similar to the night before. ally put her hands on dinah's cheeks, her thumb rubbing slowly as she looked into dinah's eyes.

"are you just going to stare? or are you actually gunna kiss me? because i kind of really miss your lips," dinah mumbled.

ally smiled and shook her head, "just wait."

"for what?" dinah whined.

"gosh you're so impatient," ally rolled her eyes.

"you love me anyway," dinah said, a small grin playing on her lips.

"that's something i can't deny," ally said.

"oh my god ally what are we waiting for?" dinah grumbled.

"for you to shut up and enjoy the moment," ally groaned. dinah sighed, choosing against saying anything. instead she chose to look at ally as she did the same.

she's been close to ally a whole bunch of times, but never did she get the time to admire ally's beauty like this. so up close, raw. this just made her fall more in love with ally more than she'd even know was possible.

"fuck you're so pretty," dinah mumbled, unable to keep her thoughts to herself.

ally giggled and sighed, "you can't just follow directions, can you?"

"no, not in my nature," dinah smirked slightly.

"might have to correct that sooner or later," ally muttered, her thumb swiping against dinah's bottom lip, eyes widening when dinah took her thumb into her mouth, moaning quietly as dinah sucked on her thumb. ally bit her bottom lip, feeling dinah's tongue swirl around her thumb as she pressed it in further. ally pulled her thumb away and pressed her lips onto dinah's, making dinah laugh against the kiss.

"i might need a shower," dinah said.

"i think we can make arrangements," ally smirked.

== + ==

"it's christmas eve!" ally squealed, sitting down at the dining table.

"i can't believe christmas is tomorrow," normani smiled.

"it felt like this year went by so quickly," ally added, sipping her mug of tea.

"mama i wan'," azariah said, pointing to the cookies ally baked in the morning, unable to contain her christmas excitement.

"wait for after lunch, bug," ally said. azariah frowned but nodded.

"where's dinah?" normani asked.

ally shrugged, "still sleeping."

"not surprised," normani chuckled. ally tensed, unsure if she was referencing dinah's constant sleeping or their hour long shower.

"food's ready!" lauren exclaimed from the kitchen. both ally and normani had offered to help, but the latina told them they could relax and enjoy the surprise.

"i wonder what it is," ally said, walking with normani and azariah into the kitchen.

"i made açaí bowls," lauren beamed, the bowls decorated with the fruits they'd gotten from pike place, the array of colors left azariah in awe.

"this looks so good, despite it being so cold outside," normani chuckled.

"well we had all of this fruit and i didn't know what else to do with it. there is still more though, so maybe we can make like a fruit platter or something for later," lauren shrugged.

"thanks laur," ally said, grabbing a regular sized bowl and the only small bowl for azariah.

"of course, i'll go wake sleeping beauty," lauren said, making her way out of the kitchen. ally and normani went back to the dining room table, azariah climbing onto one of the chairs next to normani.

lauren finally emerged from the hallway with dinah trudging behind her with a yawn.

"ally i don't know how you deal with waking this rock up everyday," lauren snorted, moving into the kitchen to grab her and dinah's bowls as dinah sat down next to ally, placing a lazy kiss on ally's temple.

"i actually have azariah wake her up and she's up within a few minutes," ally shrugged.

"that's because king uses his little bitty fingers," dinah teased, making azariah giggle. lauren put dinah's bowl in front of her, dinah smiling, "thanks."

"no problem," lauren sat down next to azariah, ruffling his curls, "man i will never get over his hair."

"it's so cute, his eyes too," normani pinched his cheeks, azariah smiling sheepishly.

"he's going to be such a heartbreaker when he grows up," lauren said, running her hand through azariah's curls.

"he already has won over the hearts of many," normani snorted.

"oh yeah the fans never stop talking about him, always asking to see pictures and updates," dinah added.

"yeah because you post about him more than i do," ally chortled.

"well i can't help it, he's always being cute and i just have to capture it, for the memories," dinah said, almost dropping a blueberry.

"you're also always with him," normani mentioned.

"always making noise while i'm trying to work," ally rolled her eyes.

"that's because i love playing with him," dinah said.

"you also like being at ally's house," lauren teased.

dinah nodded, "yeah, for azariah."

"right," normani and lauren laughed.

"y'all are unbelievable," ally shook her head with a soft laugh.

"eena, your b'ueberry," azariah pointed to the blueberry about to fall out of the bowl.

"thanks king," dinah smiled, grabbing it and putting it in her mouth.

= + =

"mama," azariah climbed onto the couch, where ally and normani were watching a movie. lauren and dinah were in lauren's room, lauren said she wanted to talk to dinah.

"yes cub?" ally asked, pulling her eyes away from the screen.

"can open p'esants now?" azariah gave his best puppy dog face, folding his hands in front of his face.

"there's the ally side of him," normani chuckled.

"what hey i don't do that," ally frowned at normani before turning back to azariah, "of course cub, it's tradition."

"yay!" azariah exclaimed.

"c'mon, let's go get one," ally said, getting up. azariah squealed and took off running down the hallway.

"whoa king, slow down, you might burn through the floor," dinah chuckled, coming out of lauren's room.

"mama saids i open p'esant," azariah explained, being picked up by dinah.

"awesome," dinah smiled at ally, walking into the room with ally behind her.

ally had wrapped both dinah and azariah's presents earlier in the day, when dinah was watching movies with lauren and normani and azariah was napping.

"alright," ally grabbed azariah's gifts, putting them on the floor. there were three total gifts, a big box, a smaller box, and a bag. of course, azariah went for the biggest box. ally chuckled and carried it outside so he could open it in front of lauren and normani.

"whoa is this for me?" lauren teased, reaching for the box.

"no! fo' me!" azariah exclaimed.

lauren laughed, "i know kid, don't worry."

"okay zaza, go ahead," ally said, dinah recording. azariah squealed and began tearing the wrapping paper haphazardly.

"oh to be a two year old on christmas eve," normani said softly, watching azariah in adoration.

azariah opened the box and looked inside, marveling at all of the items.

"i can't believe you packed that all up," dinah said quietly.

ally shrugged, "wasn't that hard. baby show your aunties."

azariah began pulling the pajama sets out. he had new superman, batman, hulk, and captain america sets. azariah was absolutely obsessed with dc comics and marvel, especially when it came to pajamas. he also always needed to have matching pants to his shirt, which is why ally bought sets.

"dude you're going to be sleeping in style," lauren smiled.

"yay, t'ank you mama," azariah put the one he had in his hand down and hugged ally.

"go thank eena too because she helped pick some out," ally whispered.

azariah giggled and nodded, climbing onto the couch. he ran and jumped on dinah, making all of the girls laugh. he began kissing all over dinah's face like she did to him.

"t'ank you eena, i love you," he said, smiling at dinah.

"of course king. you like the superman ones? i picked them out," dinah smirked. azariah nodded and hugged dinah.

"he's the cutest fucking thing ever," normani whined.

"he better stay this cute," ally chortled.

"if anything he's just going to get cuter," lauren added.

"mama we put cookies for san'a?" azariah looked at ally, still sitting in dinah's lap.

"sure cub, let's go find some cookies and milk," ally said, holding her hand out. azariah took it and followed ally into the kitchen.

"okay, so we're splitting the cookies right?" dinah whispered, turning to the other two.

"duh, and we can't forget to leave one bitten into," normani said quietly.

"good idea, maybe we should even write him a little note," lauren added.

"oh yeah he'll love that," dinah said. they all nodded in confirmation and laughed awkwardly when ally and azariah walked back into the living room.

"say goodnight, we've got to go to bed before santa doesn't come," ally said. azariah hugged each girl, kissing their cheek goodnight.

"sleep tight buddy," normani smiled.

"he literally is such an angel," lauren pouted.

"ally's doing an amazing job at raising him," dinah nodded.

"we all knew ally was going to be a great mom, there's no question about that one," normani chuckled.

"true," lauren nodded.

== + ==

"mama mama up up! is ch'istmas!" azariah was jumping on the bed next to ally.

ally groaned, "okay baby no jumping please. mama's up."

"mewwy ch'istmas mama," azariah said softly, sitting down next to ally.

ally smiled, "merry christmas cub, wake up eena," she instructed, looking behind her at the girl sleeping haphazardly. azariah nodded as ally sat up, beginning to jump again. ally chuckled and shook her head, standing up and stretching.

"gaahhhh!" she heard, turning around to see dinah holding azariah down on the bed. dinah looked up at ally and smiled.

"merry christmas," ally said.

"merry christmas my love," dinah beamed.

"mewwy chi'stmas eena," azariah poked dinah's cheek. dinah blew raspberries on azariah's stomach, making him squeal.

"merry christmas king," dinah said.

"azariah!" lauren called from the living room.

"oh what's aunty lolo have?" ally looked at azariah with wide eyes. he climbed down from the bed carefully before taking off, running as fast as he could.

when ally looked back at dinah, the polynesian was already staring at ally, making her blush slightly. she crawled back into the bed and wrapped herself around dinah, sitting in dinah's lap.

dinah smiled, "first christmas huh?"

"first of many," ally nodded.

"i still can't believe you're mine," dinah said softly, her arms wrapping around ally's waist.

ally sighed contently, "believe it because that isn't changing anytime soon."

"fuck i can't wait to live my best life with you," dinah said.

"me too," ally smiled.

"i love you," dinah said softly, meeting ally's gaze.

"i love you too," ally said. dinah placed a chaste kiss on ally's lips before slapping her butt. ally chuckled and rolled her eyes, "let's go outside before they open all the presents without us."

"good idea," dinah nodded, ally getting off of dinah's lap, "oh where are your presents?" dinah asked.

"oh right," ally went over to her things and collected the presents as dinah did the same. they walked out into the living room and saw the small piles, separated according to person. dinah and ally put their presents in their respective piles before greeting lauren and normani and sitting.

"are we opening presents now?" normani asked.

ally shrugged, "i don't see why not."

"okay riah, you go first," lauren said. azariah squealed, ally sitting on the ground next to him to help him.

lauren got him a large avengers coloring book and a set of 120 crayons, as well as a surprise being sent to ally's home. normani gave him a large avengers blanket and a battery powered car that was sent to ally's as well. dinah's gifts had been left in la, saying she had too much to pack and knew he was getting gifts from lauren and normani. ally had gotten him a superman towel with a hood and a superman plush, as well as all the presents back in la.

both lauren and ally also announced they had gifts they wanted everyone to open at the same time, so they had to wait.

normani went after. dinah had gotten her a robe with the letter 'n' engraved on the left side. ally got her a hello kitty plush that wore the outfit from her motivation music video.

dinah got a pair of jordans from normani. ally got her a t-shirt with a selfie of them from when they were out on a dinner date, as well as the necklace and ring from pike market.

lauren got new pens and paper from dinah, as well as a paperweight. ally gave her a new leather jacket, lauren's name engraved on the inside. normani got lauren new hoodies, one of them specifically from her closet.

"okay, laur you can go first," ally said when everyone was finished opening individual gifts. lauren nodded, grabbing three identical boxes from behind the couch.

"open at the same time," lauren instructed. the girls nodded, looking at each other and then beginning to tear through the wrapper at the same time. azariah made his way over and sat in lauren's lap.

"oh my god," dinah gasped softly.

"no ways," normani marveled.

"lo it's so pretty!" ally exclaimed.

lauren smiled at all of their reactions, "open to the first page." the girls did as told and all cooed.

lauren had gotten them moleskin journals, each wrapped in a different color leather (ally got brown, dinah got black, and normani got grey) with their names engraved on the front in gold. then, lauren had written each girl a special note, just reminding them how much they meaned to the miami native.

"aw laur this is amazing, thank you," ally was the first to finish reading, embracing lauren.

"i've been meaning to get a new journal," dinah said, "i can't wait to put stuff in here."

"this is so special to me, gosh," normani said, running her hands over the cover.

"yay! i'm so glad you guys like it," lauren said in her baby voice, clapping happily, "okay als, your turn."

ally reached behind her and handed the girls a decently sized bag.

"go ahead," ally said. each girl pulled out the tissue paper and then the present.

"wow," normani said softly.

"no way," lauren's eyes widened.

"this is awesome," dinah laughed.

"okay now open it," ally motioned for them to do so.

"it's already full?!" normani gasped, flipping through the pages.

"i'm glad you did it because i certainly wouldn't of," lauren snorted.

"why are the last few pages empty?" dinah asked, looking up at ally.

"that's for now, for our memories now," ally smiled sheepishly.

ally had gotten each girl a photo album of all of their accomplishments of them together as a group, and then went out of the way to include each girl's solo career in their own books. the front cover had a picture of them on the x-factor, it was one of the very first ones they have of them together.

"this is crazy, thank you so much als," normani said.

"i think this calls for a group hug, what do you say azariah?" lauren looked at azariah, who nodded.

"group hug!" dinah bounced up with a smile. the girls laughed and wrapped their arms around each other.

"love you guys, for real."

"love y'all."

"love you nuggets."

"mad love for you guys."

"i love you!"

== + ==

"we'll see y'all in two days, right?" ally asked, looking at normani and lauren.

"two days," lauren nodded in confirmation.

"awesome," dinah smiled.

"have safe flights home! we'll be together shortly!"

"you too!"


End file.
